Apparatus for elevating and distributing material



7 J. E. BUSHNELL APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING AND DISTRIBUTING MATERIAL 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 13, 1925 hweutoz 1,645,942 Och 1 J. E.BUSHNELL APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING AND DISTRIBUTING MATERIAL Filed March13, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w/A /Av/A /AY/AY/ V/ YAW gwuemtoz 33 flank/tomW .65 4 5 13 W I Patented Oct. 18, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. BUSHNELL, OF NORTH PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO RANSOMECONCRETE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OFNEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING AND DISTRIBUTING MATERIAL.

Application filed March 13, 1925. Serial No. 15,211.

The present improvements relate primarily to apparatus designed for thepurpose of hoisting loose material, such as freshly mixed concrete, tovarious elevations on a mast or tower and depositing them at suchelevation in suitable chutes or other conduits so that they will travelto the point of placement by gravity, the apparatus being so constructedand arranged that the materials may be raised and chuted at successivefloors or stages of a building or other construction, as the workprogresses.

In apparatus of this character, the materials are usually mixed at ornear the ground. and hoisted therefrom in a tub or bucket which isarranged to automatically open and dump its load at the proper heightinto a chute supported at that point in position to receive the contentsof the bucket and convey them to the distributing conduit.

The most convenient and efiective arrangement is to have the buckettravel up one side of the mast or tower, which must be free of anyobstruction tending to interrupt its travel, and to have thedistributing conduit and its receiving hopper and support on theopposite side of the mast, to have the chute arranged so that it willreceive the contents and convey them to the opposite side of the mastand deposit them in the hopper of the conduit. But considerabledifficulty has been experienced in arranging the parts so that thebucket will be dumped at exactly the proper point in its upward path oftravel and will not be damaged or cause damage to any of the other partsthrough overtraveling, and will return by its own gravity quickly andinfallibly when released from the pull of the hoisting cable. Thepresent 4 improvements are designed to overcome these difliculties, andaccomplish other ends.

The improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of the hoisting bucket with a trip leverforming a part of the present improvements;

gigure 2 is a front or inside view thereof; an

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same parts mounted on a mast ortower, on which are also mounted the trip for operating the lever. adischarge chute and a receiving hopper for the distributing conduits.

Fig. 4 is another side elevation showing the trip for operating thelever, a discharge chute and receiving hopper.

In the said drawings, 1 represents the body of the bucket, 2 and 3 theupper and lower flanged rollers on each side thereof and which engageand travel on the track 4 of the mast 5. 6 is a cable attached to thebucket and by which it is raised and permitted to lower. Any suitablemeans of propulsion may be employed, and the cable may be run over oneor more sheaves at the upper part of the mast. 7 indicates a chute forconveying the contents of the bucket to the conduit hopper 8 pivotallysupported on a bracket 9 mounted to slide on the mast. The chute is hungfrom a pivot 10 on the mast by means of arms 11 secured thereto, one oneach side of the chute at their upper ends and extending on inclinedlines into the path of the bucket, so that when the bucket passes overthe end of the chute the hopper will be swung out of the path of thebucket, but will return to said path immediately by gravity. These partsare all described and shown in the copending application of John P.Faber, filed August 5, 1924, Number 730,161, upon which the presentinvention is in part an improvement, and to which reference may be hadfor further details, if desired.

A hanger 12 on each side of the bucket supports a lever 13 pivoted at 19and having an elbow joint 14 which permits its forward arm 15 to moveupwardly without moving its rearward arm 16, while the laterallyprojecting lug 25 coming in contact with the extension 28 of the reararm 15 prevents such movement in a downward direction. The link 17 ispivoted to the rear end of the lever 13 and also, at its lower end tothe gate 18 of the bucket, so that downward movement of the forwardportion of the lever causes upward and opening movement of the door.After the lever has been depressed, and as soon as it is released, thegravity of the bucket gate 18 will restore it to normal position. Theextreme forward end 20 of the lever is downwardly curved so that it willslide over the trip on its upward journey, and has an eye 21 to which aline may be attached for the purpose of manually opening the bucket atany desired point. A strap 22 is secured to each side of the bucket andextending over the forward arm of the lever guards it against lateralmovement. The links 17 are in effect a bail, extending from each side tothe gate 18 beneath the bucket and being rigidly secured thereto andconnected with each other thereby.

The trips consist of brackets 23 detachably secured to each side of themast and su porting a trip proper 24, in the path of t e outer arm ofthe lever, with a downward inclined lower part and an upwardly inclinedupper part and vertically connecting portion, so that the said arm willslide thereon in ascending, be depressed, move along the same indepressed position and then be released to permit the bucket gate toclose. YVhen the bucket descends the end of the arm will swing upwardly,as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, on the joint 14 and pass overthe trip, falling immediately to its normal position when the trip isassed.

t will be seen from the foregoing description that the bucketimmediately after passing the end of the chute 7 is opened and held openfor a moment by the trip 24 acting to depress the lever 13 and open itsgate 18, and then closed, by the gravity of the gate, and that if thebucket continues to move upward for a short distance, no harm can bedone, and further that when it returns it will pass over the trip nomatter how high it has ascended. This guards against accidental injuryto any of the parts by careless operation, and also ensures an accurateand smooth opening of the bucket, without danger of a rebound or anyother unintended action.

The side of the bucket next to the mast is provided with spring shoes 26preferably formed of steel straps secured to the front of the bucketextending above the same and inclined slightly away from its face andthen turned backwardly and downwardly to the cable anchor 27 where theyare secured to the double-angle cross bar 29. The object and purpose ofthese shoes is to engage the arms of the chute, and swing the chute outof the path of the bucket while sliding thereover.

The vertical surface of the trip 24 may be of any desiredlength, so thatthe bucket will be held open long enough to insure the discharge of itscontents, and the trip may be placed at any point in the height of thetower, and adjusted with reference to the chute so as to act upon thelever 13 at exactly the right moment.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a hoisting apparatus a mast, a bucket mounted to travel up anddown said mast, a door mounted to swing upwardly to open position foropening said bucket, an arm carried by said bucket and connected $5 withsaid door to open the same, and a trip device secured to the mast in thepath of said arm, said trip device having an inclined surface over whichthe end of the arm passes in ascending, and by which the said arm ismoved.

2. In an apparatus as specified in claim 1, the said trip device alsohaving a vertical portion above the said inclined portion over which thesaid end of the arm passes while in depressed position and whichprevents the return of the arm and the closing of the door.

In an apparatus as specified in claim I, the said trip device alsohaving a vertical portion. above the said inclined portion over whichthe said end of the arm passes while in depressed position and whichprevents the return of the arm and the closing of the door, and saidtrip device also having an inclined portion above the vertical portionto permit the said arm to return to normal position.

4. In an apparatus as specified in claim 1, the said arm having adownwardly inclined end which comes in contact with the trip device.

5. In an apparatus as specified in claim 1, said trip device beinmovable independently to different positions vertically on the tower.

6. An apparatus as specified in claim 1, in combination with a chute forreceiving the contents of the bucket mounted on the tower adjacent tothe trip device, and said trip device being adjustable with referencethereto.

7. In an apparatus as specified in claim 1, the said arm having a jointwhich permits it to move upwardly independently of the door but preventindependent downward movement from normal position.

8. The combination of a tower, a bucket mounted to travel up and downthe same, a chute for delivering the contents of the bucket hung on apivot on said tower and normally projecting into the path of the bucket,an inclined contact member on the portion of said chute in the path ofsaid bucket, and a spring shoe secured to the ortion of the buckettoward the said inclined contact member and arranged to come in contacttherewith when the bucket passes thereover, said spring shoe extendingabove the bucket and away from the said face thereof.

9. In the construction specified in claim 8, the said spring shoe havinga downwardly turned upper portion spaced backwardly from the contactportion thereof and secured on the bucket.

10. In a hoisting and distributing apparatus for concrete or the like,an upright supporting member, a container for material to be distributedmounted to travel up and down said member, a door for opening andclosing said container, an arm carried by said container connected withsaid door and operable to open the same and hold the same in openposition, a trip device secured to said member in the path of a portionof said arm, said trip device extending longitudinally of the uprightsupporting member in the path of said portion of the arm, a chute forreceiving the contents of the container when the door is opened, aswinging support mounted on the said upright member to which said chuteis secured, the parts being so constructed and arranged that thecontainer is out of engagement with the chute when the arm is inengagement with the trip, and vice versa.

11. In the mechanism specified in claim 10 the trip being constructedand arranged to be adjusted vertically on the upright supporting memberindependentlv of the chute.

12. In the mechanism specified in claim 10 the trip being constructedand arranged to be adjusted vertically on the upright supporting memberindependently of the chute and the construction and arrangement of theparts also being such that the container traveling upwardly first movesthe chute out of its path, then releases it and permits it to return tonormal position, and then brings the arm into contact with the trip, andon its return movement first releases the arm from the trip to causeclosing of the door and then moves the chute out of its path.

Witness my hand this 10th day of March, 1925, at Plainfield, New Jersey.

JAMES E. BUSHNELL.

